Mecum’s June auction in Vegas has come and gone, and 271 out of 402 bikes found new owners. Over $3 million changed hands last weekend – let’s take a very quick look at the 10 highest sale prices:
1. 1929 Cleveland Tornado Four Cylinder (Lot S101) at $88,000. Many of the bikes from this auction were from the personal collection of Jim Lattin, including this beautiful Cleveland that he acquired in 1983. It’s said to be one of two known “long tank” examples and it also spent time at the National Automobile Museum in Reno (also known as the Harrah collection).
2. 1913 Harley-Davidson 9A 5-35 Single (Lot S156) at $88,000. It’s over a century old, but the Mecum listing doesn’t offer much more information than that. The engine was restored an undisclosed time ago and the bike is impressively still featuring its original paint.
3. 1912 Indian Big Base 8-valve (Lot F150) at $82,500. While this bike has been “restored to run”, it has not been started (that’s a weird statement to make, I know). It’s been shown just once before the auction after a 3-year build that included a Big Base motor with a 8 valve conversion. I think it was the prettiest bike in the auction.
4. 2008 NCR Ducati Mike Hailwood TT (Lot S76) at $77,000. NCR planned on building 12 “Mike Hailwood Isle of Man TT” specials to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Mike the Bike’s ’78 IoM win, but with a MSRP of $130,000 only one was produced before production was called off. This is one of one, even if it was not meant to be by design. It features a 130 horsepower motor (1,225cc) and the titanium frame weighs just 12 pounds. It’s “never been street ridden or raced”.
5. 1942 Harley-Davidson FL (Lot S165) at $77,000. It’s a running classic that’s mostly original with some ‘WWII vintage’ pieces like the ignition switch and speedometer.
The rest of the top 10 were:
6. 1975 Ducati 750SS (Lot S117) at $71,500
7. 1937 Indian Chief with Sidecar (Lot F168) at $66,000
8. 1914 Harley-Davidson 11K (Lot S143) at $55,000
9. 1959 BMW R60 with TR500 Steib Sidecar (Lot S194) at $55,000
10. 1929 BMW R62 (Lot S88) at $50,600